Making Fake Become Real was still in progress, and through it, Makoto learned the names of all the Players present.
Silva Rocha, Kamishiro Ren, Erin Walker, Ivan Vasilyevich, Park Ji-hoon, and Arthur Gray.
The six of them had a combined Fate Value of 40, yet they only contributed 10 Manifestation Points to Makoto.
[Your mastery of Armament Haki has increased to 90%, and you have mastered the technique of internal destruction.]
Almost instantly, Makoto's Armament Haki advanced to an entirely new level.
Its terrifying power generated a storm around his fist.
Even Whitebeard and Garp, who had been confronting each other on the distant battlefield, couldn't help turning toward him in astonishment.
A moment later, their Observation Haki also detected the miserable conditions of Aokiji and Akainu.
They realized that the two Admirals had actually been ambushed and restrained!
'This is bad!'
The female captain, Erin, felt her pupils contract.
What frightened her wasn't the destructive power of Makoto's punch.
No matter how powerful his fist became, could it really surpass Garp in his prime?
The reason for her fear was that their entire plan to ambush the two Admirals relied on Garp and Sengoku being too occupied to intervene.
If they attracted those two powerhouses here, completing their mission would become the least of their worries.
Whether they could escape alive would be the real problem.
'Where the hell did this bastard come from?!'
Furious and alarmed, Erin immediately shouted an order.
"Ren! Can't you draw that damn ritual circle any faster?!"
Kamishiro Ren's expression darkened.
Under normal circumstances, anyone who dared question his speed at drawing ritual circles would have received a thoroughly sarcastic response.
However, even he understood that the situation had become too urgent to waste time arguing.
He hastily completed the ritual circle and aimed the blade of his scythe toward his heart.
But just as he was about to plunge the weapon into his body, an enormous hand of flame suddenly seized his wrist.
The flames burned through his flesh, releasing the unpleasant smell of scorched meat.
Naturally, the owner of that fiery hand was Sakiko, who had followed Makoto but arrived a step later.
"Whatever you're planning, you'd better stay right where you are."
Ren looked down at his burned arm.
As though he couldn't feel the slightest pain, he sneered.
"You think a little injury like this can stop me, woman?"
Five chakra threads immediately extended from the fingers of his other hand.
They caught his scythe and once again directed its blade toward his chest.
Sakiko frowned deeply.
Without wasting another word, she threw a punch toward his head, intending to knock him out of the strange ritual circle.
Unfortunately, someone else moved even faster.
Using his omni-directional mobility gear, Arthur Gray had already rushed in front of her.
His twin blades slashed toward Sakiko's neck.
The sharpness of those weapons clearly went far beyond what ordinary cold-weapon forging techniques from the world of Attack on Titan could produce.
Sakiko felt the hairs on her body stand on end.
Powerful flames immediately erupted from her entire body, engulfing both enemies.
Not far away, Park Ji-hoon suddenly raised his voice and began crying loudly.
He had activated the Nen techniques Ren and Gyo, concentrating more aura around his throat.
This allowed his curse-based ability to spread across dozens of meters while considerably increasing its power.
However, before the ability could take effect, Makoto's stand silenced his voice completely.
Not only did Ji-hoon's ability fail to affect Makoto and Sakiko, but even Aokiji and Akainu, whose strength had previously been suppressed, began struggling violently again.
'That bastard is a stand user too! We need to eliminate him first!'
Ivan Vasilyevich, the stand user hiding in the shadows, immediately attempted to warn his teammates.
However, when he opened his mouth, no sound came out.
Makoto's Observation Haki had already reached an advanced level.
How could he possibly allow Ivan to interfere freely?
His stand's ability now covered the entire battlefield around them.
The only people capable of making sounds were Makoto and Sakiko.
Everyone else had been completely silenced, making it impossible for them to communicate with their teammates through speech.
And that wasn't all.
A voice identical to Erin's suddenly sounded in the Players' ears.
"The situation is out of control! Everyone, retreat immediately!"
Naturally, the voice had been imitated by Makoto's stand.
Although such an order was completely inconsistent with Erin's usual behavior, hearing their captain's voice still caused every Player to hesitate instinctively.
And that brief moment of hesitation was all Makoto needed.
His fully charged fist shot forward.
Boom!
Makoto's fist collided violently with the punch thrown by Silva Rocha, the muscular man wearing a sleeveless shirt.
However, this time, the result was completely different.
Although Makoto's physical strength hadn't increased, he concentrated his violent Armament Haki and drove it directly into Rocha's arm.
The internal destructive force twisted through his flesh and bones.
With a horrifying burst, Rocha's entire right arm exploded apart, even the bones shattering into powder.
His expression shifted from disbelief to unbearable agony.
He opened his mouth to scream, but not a single sound escaped.
Everything happened in an instant.
What Rocha never could have imagined was that, through their physical contact, Makoto had also learned the entire secret behind this Summit War.
It turned out that Spink had never been interested in exchanging Contribution Points for rewards.
He didn't care whether the pirates won either.
In fact, the lives and deaths of everyone participating in the Summit War meant absolutely nothing to him.
What Spink wanted was to follow a path that had already been proven to work.
A path that was sufficiently bloody, but also extraordinarily fast.
He intended to sacrifice the entire Summit War to summon the legendary King of the World, Imu!
As for what would happen afterward, even these Players didn't know.
According to the established procedure, unrelated Players would either have obediently withdrawn by then or fallen victim to carefully planned attacks before realizing what was happening.
This team had also intended to withdraw immediately after killing the two Admirals and collecting their rewards.
Unfortunately, Makoto had interrupted their operation.
Only now did Makoto finally confirm that Spink had never intended to let him complete his mission in the first place.
Watching Rocha fly backward, Makoto's lips curved into an emotionless smile.
'As expected, you really can't trust anyone in the Main God Space.'
Even if someone appeared sincere and offered sufficient compensation, it merely proved that Makoto's strength had made them feel threatened.
It didn't mean they genuinely wanted to cooperate with him.
In fact, Spink might have regarded a reckless newcomer like Makoto, who had suddenly barged into his plans, as just another sacrifice for summoning the King of the World!
Seeing Rocha suffer such a devastating injury, the expressions of the remaining Players changed dramatically.
Meanwhile, Gray and Ren had managed to roll out of Sakiko's flames in miserable condition.
Those flames contained both cursed energy and magical power, making them far too dangerous for the two Players to withstand directly.
However, that didn't mean their battle was over.
Green chakra suddenly erupted from Ren's entire body.
His aura instantly surged to a level approaching that of a Kage.
With a powerful swing of his arm, he sent his scythe spinning through the air toward Sakiko.
The weapon moved so quickly that she could barely react.
Gray let out a furious roar.
Amid a brilliant flash of white light, his body rapidly expanded.
In just a moment, he transformed into a giant standing fifteen meters tall!
His entire body was covered in hard black armor.
Scalding steam continuously surrounded him within a radius of three meters, producing powerful air currents capable of resisting Sakiko's flames.
Furthermore, he swung the sharp claws that had formed from his hands, joining Ren in attacking Sakiko from both sides.
Yet at that critical moment, Sakiko advanced instead of retreating.
Armament Haki.
Cursed energy reinforcement.
Magic reinforcement.
Chakra reinforcement.
All four sources of power surged simultaneously.
Under the enhancement of a mask that had turned golden, these different energies rapidly merged into a single terrifying force that made the very ground tremble.
Then, that power erupted violently in every direction.
Just a moment earlier, Ren, who had reached the level of the Gate of View, and Gray, who had transformed into a fifteen-meter giant, had believed victory was within their grasp.
But before the golden torrent of energy, both were instantly reduced to ashes.
The golden flood continued spreading outward, even piercing through buildings more than a hundred meters away.
Its sheer power startled Whitebeard and Garp, who had already begun fighting hand-to-hand on the main battlefield.
Makoto also stared in astonishment toward Sakiko.
'Has her strength really reached such an incredible level?'
However, when he saw how dramatically her aura had weakened, with her eyelids barely able to remain open, he finally understood.
That last attack had probably exhausted every last reserve of energy in her body.
"You bastards deserve to die!"
Rocha roared soundlessly.
Despite losing an arm, his fury only continued increasing.
The muscles throughout his body suddenly expanded to more than twice their previous size.
He no longer looked remotely human.
With a furious expression, Rocha threw a punch toward Sakiko.
Although he merely struck the air, the resulting force carried an overwhelming presence reminiscent of Whitebeard's punch that had shattered Marine Headquarters.
Unfortunately for him, an invisible barrier suddenly appeared in front of the attack.
Naturally, Makoto had intervened.
And this time, he had used Spatial Manipulation without holding back.
Sakiko had already begun killing their enemies.
There was no reason for him to remain merciful either.
Makoto casually pointed toward Rocha.
In the next instant, more than a hundred spatial spikes erupted outward from the space before him.
They instantly pierced through Rocha's enormous muscles before continuing toward the three remaining Players without hesitation.
The ability Makoto used was Cursed Technique Reversal: Wedge.
However, things were different from before, when he had been forced to carefully ration the space available for creating wedges.
His cursed technique's spatial dimension had now expanded to more than 9,000 cubic meters.
Even with four newcomers still being sheltered inside his storage space, he could freely increase the attack range of his reversed technique.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the only things currently limiting Makoto's use of his reversed technique were his own cursed energy reserves and the maximum output of his cursed technique.
Rocha was instantly killed.
Meanwhile, Park Ji-hoon hurriedly withdrew.
He used Nen to reinforce his physical body, completely abandoning the idea of attacking Makoto and Sakiko through his abilities.
In his eyes, those two were completely unreasonable monsters.
'How the hell are they producing power that feels almost Professional-level when they go all out?!'
However, just as Ji-hoon was retreating, a beautiful figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
The long sword in her hand traced several graceful arcs through the air.
The next instant, several waves of sword energy flew toward his body.
Ji-hoon's pupils contracted.
He immediately crossed his arms and hardened them with Armament Haki.
After enduring Asuna's sword attacks, he advanced instead of retreating.
A powerful aura erupted from his body, no weaker than the Haki Sakiko had displayed earlier.
He also concentrated Nen around his fingertips.
In an instant, his fingertips collided with the tip of Asuna's sword.
The weapon was knocked from her hands.
A look of horror appeared on Asuna's face.
Seeing this, Ji-hoon's expression twisted into a vicious grin.
With a sudden burst of speed, he closed the distance between them and threw a punch toward Asuna's chest, his entire fist coated in Armament Haki.
As far as he was concerned, a swordsman who had lost their sword was no different from a tiger that had lost its fangs.
Unfortunately, something happened that he couldn't understand.
The astonishment on Asuna's face lasted only an instant.
The next moment, a brilliant light erupted from her body.
For the first time, she activated her own ability.
By forcibly consuming mental energy to raise all her attributes while simultaneously releasing the chakra within her body, Asuna pushed her physical capabilities to their absolute limit.
And that wasn't all.
Another sword suddenly appeared in her hand.
It was identical to the one Ji-hoon had just knocked away!
Clearly, Asuna had used the material of her kunai to activate the Garb-Garb Fruit's abilities and create another sword for herself.
Seeing the sword's tip aimed directly at his throat, Ji-hoon no longer dared underestimate her.
He finally chose to pull back, taking half a step away from the attack.
Unfortunately, that half step became the deciding factor in his defeat.
The original Hand Sword, which had been knocked away earlier, suddenly used several fingers to push itself off the ground.
The weapon sprang into the air and transformed into a flying sword, stabbing straight through Ji-hoon's ankle.
Ji-hoon winced from the pain.
He stared at the weapon moving on its own, only now realizing that it was actually a living sword!
Furious, he was just about to fight desperately when Asuna threw the copied Hand Sword in her hand toward him.
Ji-hoon hurriedly reinforced his hand with Armament Haki and reached out to intercept it.
However, what awaited him was an endless barrage of swords.
Asuna began throwing one copied Hand Sword after another, almost as though she were hurling throwing knives.
Left with no other choice, Ji-hoon reinforced his entire body with Armament Haki and endured the attacks directly.
At the same time, he pulled out a weapon resembling a loudspeaker.
He was clearly preparing to use the Nen ability he was most familiar with once again.
Presumably, he believed that amplifying his Nen through this device might allow him to break through the silence imposed by Makoto's stand.
Unfortunately, something happened that Ji-hoon never could have anticipated.
The copied weapons he had already knocked to the ground suddenly began moving!
One after another, they used their fingers to crawl up his body.
Then, they transformed into heavy chains, wrapping tightly around him.
Realizing something was wrong, Ji-hoon hurriedly opened his mouth.
He intended to activate Fate Burn!
However, just as he silently formed the words, Asuna's real Hand Sword seized the opportunity and stabbed through his back, piercing his chest.
Looking at the enemy coughing blood before her, Asuna felt most of her newly gathered fighting spirit rapidly disappear.
Her face also turned pale.
Nevertheless, she remained standing firmly, keeping her fists reinforced with Armament Haki.
Compared to the girl she had been not long ago, Asuna had clearly become a novice warrior.
...
Less than a minute had passed since the surprise battle began.
Yet four members of the original six-person Player team were already dead!
Erin had still been searching for a way to communicate with her teammates.
Now, however, she could only stare at the team interface as one portrait after another turned red.
Her eyes widened with fury.
Finally, she couldn't help shouting.
"We never attacked you! Why did you come here to kill us?!"
Because of Makoto's stand ability, her voice couldn't reach him.
However, he understood what she meant by reading her lips.
Makoto therefore lifted the silence imposed by his stand and replied.
"If I remember correctly, you were the one who shouted 'Attack!' earlier."
"So what exactly did you mean by that? Were you just playing a little joke on us?"
As Makoto spoke, he returned the exhausted Sakiko to his cursed technique's spatial dimension.
Then he began walking toward the female Player.
Since Erin was the team's captain, she probably possessed some additional confidential information.
That was the reason Makoto hadn't killed her yet.
Unfortunately, Erin clearly had no intention of cooperating.
She pulled out a mechanical glove and fitted it over her hand.
Then, with a sudden motion, she slammed her fist forward.
An enormous silver-gray robot, standing nineteen meters tall, suddenly descended from the sky!
The giant machine came crashing down directly toward Makoto's head.
Seeing the enormous mechanical figure, Makoto sucked in a sharp breath.
'What the hell?!'
'Isn't that a freaking Gundam?!'
…